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And, apparently, their funny phrases can inspire art. Martin Bruckner, a Nebraska dad, is turning his 3-year-old daughter’s sayings into hilariously beautiful art and cataloging it all on his Tumblr “Spaghetti Toes.”

Spaghetti Toes is his blog dedicated to the delightfully absurd things Bruckner hears from his daughter Harper Grace — plus the equally bizarre things he and his wife find themselves saying while navigating life with a toddler.

Read the full article and view more of this Dad’s super cute creativity here!

Z-pARTy is a celebration of creativity showcasing art by children and youth of the Zimmer Children’s Museum and its youTHink program. There will be plenty of family activities, art, and music from our very own resident rock stars Luis and Ana at 6pm and 7:30pm.

The party takes place on Saturday, December 13th from 5:00pm-9:00pm as part of the NELA Art Walk at the Antigua Coffee House: 3400 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90065.

youThink is a program of the Zimmer Children’s Museum that empowers youth to find their voices, think critically and take action for social change. Through school, after school, weekend and community programs, youTHink provides underserved communities with arts and leadership training.

Tonight only, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., 36 students from South L.A., Compton, central city, downtown and the eastside will share their visions of “Where I’m From,” in poems and photographs they created as part of youTHink’s Ambassador program, a year-long arts and leadership program.

“Where I’m From” is the culmination of a photography workshop led by award winning photojournalist Sophia Nahli Allison, with students learning key composition concepts as well as techniques to visually explore their lives through the lens of a camera.

Before the workshop began, students crafted poems on the theme that served as their starting point for inspiration, encouraging them to capture moments, objects and surroundings that define “Where I’m From.” The poems will accompany the photographs.

With Christmas and Chanukah just around the corner, the students’ photographs will be for sale and make great gifts. All proceeds benefit the youTHink program and Zimmer Children’s Museum. The exhibition is free, and takes place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. tonight only at Blue Five Art Space, 2935 S. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A. 90064. Find out more at www.youthink.org.

In the past three years, while his classmates were doing homework and playing sports, Moziah Bridges built himself a $150,000 business.

That’s right–he started his business when he was 9 years old. Not yet a teenager, Bridges now has five staff members and has received a ton of media attention, from an appearance on the TV show Shark Tank to features in O magazine and Vogue.

“I like to wear bow ties, because they make me look good and feel good,” Bridges writes on his website. “Designing a colorful bow tie is just part of my vision to make the world a fun and happier place.”

Ever the fashionista, he’s reveled in style from a young age. At four years old, Bridges wore a suit and tie whenever possible and insisted on dressing himself.

Want to know more about Moziah Bridges and how this kidpreneur started his business? Click here!

A preoccupation with safety has stripped childhood of independence, risk taking, and discovery—without making it safer. A new kind of playground points to a better solution.

The Land is an “adventure playground,” although that term is maybe a little too reminiscent of theme parks to capture the vibe. In the U.K., such playgrounds arose and became popular in the 1940s, as a result of the efforts of Lady Marjory Allen of Hurtwood, a landscape architect and children’s advocate. Allen was disappointed by what she described in a documentary as “asphalt square” playgrounds with “a few pieces of mechanical equipment.” She wanted to design playgrounds with loose parts that kids could move around and manipulate, to create their own makeshift structures. But more important, she wanted to encourage a “free and permissive atmosphere” with as little adult supervision as possible. The idea was that kids should face what to them seem like “really dangerous risks” and then conquer them alone. That, she said, is what builds self-confidence and courage.

How do you get young people thinking about design? Such a task requires first explaining what design is, exactly, which can be tricky even for adults to grasp. The meaning of design is made delightfully simple in “Shape,” a wordless six-minute animation designed and directed by Johnny Kelly for Pivot Dublin, a Dublin City Council initiative that applies design thinking to city planning.

The film, set to be shown in Irish classrooms as part of the MakeShapeChange campaign, is meant to raise questions: How are things made? Who makes them? “Shape” highlights how design affects our everyday lives–using nothing but stick figures.

Some people devote their lives to causes greater than themselves. And for many that devotion comes late in life. But Craig Kielburger discovered it early. He was in 7th grade when the death of a boy changed his life. It was a change so profound that, through Kielburger, it has now saved and transformed other lives all around the globe. In that moment, 19 years ago, Craig Kielburger was struck by a profound truth –something as important as changing the world can’t be left to grown ups.

Craig Kielburger: Kids are looking to get involved. They’re searching for it. And in an era where, you know adults often are looking for meaning and purpose in their lives, kids also want to assert who they are, not just by the videogames they play or the peer groups they belong to, but by the contribution they make. And that’s part of a youth self-identity in the world. And not only is it good for the child, my God, our world needs it.